This article incorporates some of the latest available data on the benefits of
exercise in the elderly. The authors’ methods are sound and frequently innovative.
Even so, research methods in this field are not yet as sophisticated as in
areas such as stroke and neurotrauma. Most studies use only local samples, often
drawn by convenience. The Western world would no doubt benefit from a more
unified and balanced approach to exercise research in this rapidly growing patient
population. Interfacility databases, similar to those for brain and spinal cord
injury, could be used to create study populations that are more indicative of the
population of elders as a whole, permitting the drawing of stronger conclusions.
Furthermore, few studies focus on disabled elders. Because the incidence of
stroke, cardiac dysfunction, and related impairments is high in these patients,
wider study of this population would be beneficial
on each, research into the primary effects of exercise in elderly patients,
and specific prescription recommendations